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Damon Lee Fowler: Mastering Southern cooking with the masters

Pork Roast Tenderloin with Typical Pan Sauce is one of many classic recipes featured in “Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking.”

Damon Lee Fowler/For Savannah Morning News

Baked Rice and Mushrooms can easily be made when cooking several dishes in the oven at the same time. It can also be cooked on the stovetop.

Photo provided

Nathalie Dupree, left, and Cynthia Graubart are the co-authors of “Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking.”

One bright January morning about three years ago, I walked into Nathalie Dupree’s sunshine yellow kitchen to find her standing at the counter, elegantly dressed in a black sweater, slacks and velvet shoes, completely covered in flour. Her hands crusted with some of the dough that lay in a fluffy pillow on the counter before her, she was busily cutting out biscuits.

She’d been struck by an idea on her way home from a meeting and, heedless of the fact that she was wearing good clothes (all black, no less) and had to be somewhere else in less than an hour, she hadn’t even bothered to find an apron before digging out flour and shortening and getting to it.

Few people realize that’s actually a typical day in Dupree’s kitchen. Even after four decades of teaching and writing about cooking, the woman who has been called the doyenne of Southern food is still curious, still learning, still testing her limits.

On that particular day, she was about halfway through the research and writing of “Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking,” and the dough under her fingers was a test run of a recipe intended for an entire section on biscuits. Biscuits, in Dupree’s mind, are the very essence of Southern cooking, and she was determined to provide the definitive treatise on this quintessential bread.

The section became so involved, however, that she and her co-author, Cynthia Graubart, realized that it needed to be a separate book.

Published last year by Gibbs-Smith, “Southern Biscuits” is the single most comprehensive work on the quickbread that is so close to Southern hearts.

Actually, Graubart, Dupree’s producer for her ground-breaking television series “New Southern Cooking” and a respected cookbook author in her own right, had gotten involved in the project because they both realized that a volume as comprehensive as Dupree envisioned needed more than one hand to keep it on track and bring it to fruition.

Graubart is much more to Dupree than a trusted colleague — the two have been close friends for more than 25 years.

It was Dupree who introduced Graubart to her husband and who encouraged her to pursue an idea that led to her own book, “The One-Armed Cook,” a critically acclaimed cookbook for mothers struggling to cook with a baby in one arm.

Though Graubart brought much more than focus and organization to the project, and the warmth of her personality comes through in many of the notes, they both consider “Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking” to be Dupree’s masterwork, and it is Dupree’s sure, authoritative voice that dominates.

Some of the recipes are taken from Dupree’s earlier work, but it would be a mistake to call them repetitive.

Dupree and Graubart have carefully reworked and retested each one, informing them with more than four decades of teaching and cooking.

A sampling of these masterful recipes has been selected by Dupree and Graubart especially for entertaining during this busy holiday season.

ROASTED PORK TENDERLOIN

Perfect for holiday entertaining, pork tenderloins are fast, easy and have very little waste. You can roast up to four at a time. Trussing them prior to roasting keeps the tenderloin’s shape and leaves ridges, making it easier to slice. Lay the meat on the counter and tie at regular intervals. When reaching the thin tail, fold it up to make a thicker piece, and tie. The flesh knits together nicely during cooking. For home cooking, tying is only necessary when the meat needs to be beautifully sliced at intervals, as for a formal or restaurant presentation. Roast pork tenderloin 20 minutes per pound.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil and butter in heavy pan until sizzling. Season tenderloin to taste with salt and pepper, add quickly to pan, and brown on first side. Using tongs, turn and brown on second side. Use tongs to hold meat and brown all over.

3. Move to an oiled roasting pan, tuck tail under if not trussed, and bake 20 to 30 minutes, until thickest part of meat registers 145 degrees on a meat thermometer.

4. Remove from oven, let stand at least 3 minutes as it rises in temperature. If tail was not tucked under, it will be well done compared to still pink butt end of tenderloin, but will still be a tender, flavorful piece of meat. Slice tenderloin as desired.

For stovetop whole tenderloin: Lower the heat after browning, cover the pan with aluminum foil and then a tight lid to prevent the liquid from escaping as steam. Cook over low-medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the thickest part of the meat registers 145 degrees on a meat thermometer. Let stand at least 3 minutes as it rises in temperature.

FIG AND PECAN TAPENADE WITH GOAT CHEESE

This is one of Graubart’s favorite go-to recipes for entertaining at any season, but especially the winter holidays, because she says it’s easy, travels well and everyone loves it. To prevent dried fruit from clinging together while chopping, coat a metal knife blade lightly with cooking oil or spray. If dried fruit is to be used in a flour-based recipe, toss the fruit in flour to coat, then chop and return it to flour mixture. Some cooks have success with chopping dried fruit in a food processor, just pulsing the blade a few times.

1 cup chopped dried figs

1⁄3 cup water

1⁄3 cup chopped pitted black olives

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

½ tablespoon chopped green olives, optional

1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

½ cup chopped toasted pecans

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 (5-½-ounce) logs soft goat cheese, cut into ½-inch-thick rounds

1. Cover figs with water in heavy saucepan, bring to simmer and cook over medium-high heat until figs are soft and water has nearly evaporated, about 7 minutes.

2. Move figs to bowl using slotted spoon and stir in olives, oil, vinegar, green olives, thyme and pecans. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the sauce shown in the photograph, I doubled this recipe and whisked in a few tablespoons of Dijon mustard, an addition Graubart heartily approved. To vary the sauce, you may also add 1-2 teaspoons chopped fresh herbs. You may also add a cup of cream after it reduces, bring it back to a boil and cook until the volume is reduced by half.

The roasting pan with all its drippings

½ cup stock, white or red wine, or dry port (I used white wine)

1. Remove tenderloins from pan. Add liquid, bring to a boil and scrape bottom of pan to get all good bits loosened.

2. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until volume is reduced by half. Add any juices from carving pork and simmer until thickened. Spoon over sliced tenderloins.

BAKED RICE AND MUSHROOMS

This technique of cooking rice is very helpful when cooking several dishes simultaneously in a heated oven. It guarantees fluffy rice with little work.

1 tablespoon butter

½ medium onion, chopped

1 ½ cups long or medium-grain white rice

3 cups water

½ tablespoon salt

½ pound small button or other mushrooms, quartered

Freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Heat butter over medium heat in ovenproof pot with lid. Add onion and cook until soft and slightly brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add rice and stir a couple of minutes to coat grains with butter. Add water and salt, and bring to boil. Stir in mushrooms and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Bake for 17 minutes. Fluff with two forks, add pepper to taste and serve.

Variation: To prepare on top of the stove, bring to a boil after adding the mushrooms, cover, reduce heat to a low simmer and cook for 17 to 20 minutes, until the rice is cooked and the water has evaporated.

CHOCOLATE PECAN TORTE

Finely ground pecan meal, or pecan flour, is available commercially and is much less expensive than grinding pieces of pecans. Otherwise, use a food processor to grind fine. Makes 1 (9-inch) torte.

Panko or dry breadcrumbs

6 ounces semisweet chocolate bits

3⁄4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3⁄4 cup granulated sugar

6 large eggs, separated

1 1⁄4 cup finely ground pecans

Chocolate Ganache Icing

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter 9x2-½x3-inch springform pan. Cut piece of parchment or waxed paper and fit it to bottom of pan; dust with Panko or breadcrumbs.

2. Melt chocolate slowly in double boiler over low heat, or in glass dish in microwave. Cool slightly. Beat butter with electric hand mixer until light. Add sugar and beat another 2 or 3 minutes, until fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition until thoroughly incorporated. Slowly beat in chocolate followed by ground pecans.

3. Meanwhile, beat egg whites in a clean bowl until firm peaks form. Fold a dollop of egg whites into chocolate mixture to lighten it a bit. Pour this mixture onto egg whites and fold in. (It is easier to fold heavier mixtures into lighter ones than lighter into heavier.)

4. Fill prepared springform pan with mixture and place pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake in oven for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees. Check after another 30 minutes; cake should be soft and moist in center but firm on exterior. Return to oven and bake another 15 or 20 minutes as needed, checking occasionally. It will be a bit damp in center when checked with toothpick.

5. Remove pan from oven and set on a wet, folded towel. Let stand 25 minutes. Remove sides of springform pan. Place baking rack over top of cake, invert, and remove bottom of pan and the paper. Invert again on serving plate. Edge four long pieces of waxed paper under cake to catch any drippings from icing. Spread top of cake with Chocolate Ganache Icing, starting from middle and working toward outside; cover top and sides. After 5 minutes, pull out waxed paper and discard. Chill and serve thin wedges.